Recently some of you may have received "An Open Letter from David Lennon," in which the outgoing president presented the arguments for his re-election. As one would expect, he focused on his accomplishments. We believe some of the things he says are simply not true, others are couched in the expected exaggerated language of an anxious candidate. We have tried below to set the record straight. The facts we present are a matter of record.

The Local 802 election is just weeks away. In the end, we all have to rely on the good sense and good judgment of you the members. To make those judgments you need the facts.

“My personal finances –the subject of much scrutiny – are in order.” – David Lennon

It is not and never was Lennon's personal finances at issue. It was his abuse of access to union money. He came under government scrutiny by charging more than $10,000 in personal expenses on the union’s credit card and by cashing checks that he knew belonged to the union. His actions prompted a Department of Labor investigation, the results of which have now been turned over the U.S. Justice Department. Though he claims that his finances are "in order," he has left ours in disarray. So far his misuse of union money has caused us to spend over $35,000 in attorney and accountant fees to protect our union. Lennon's supporters, the Members Party Executive Board members, have blocked further efforts to recoup the money by obstructing enforcement of the bylaw passed in June requiring the union to seek reimbursement for these expenses. As to the "personal" financial issues that drove Lennon to misuse union money, 802 members have no way of knowing if they “are in order."

“I have set a course toward the complete empowerment of the rank-and-file and its committees.” – David Lennon

Lennon has shown his lack of respect for rank and file committee autonomy. Shortly before the October membership meeting, Lennon handed out a leaflet to Lincoln Center Orchestra members that contained a number of falsehoods. The most egregious was the listing of four Lincoln Center Orchestra Committees as the leaflet’s authors. None of the Committees had seen or authorized the leaflet. There continues to be a member backlash against the misuse of their orchestra committee’s names.

“The battle I pioneered against the Virtual Orchestra …” – David Lennon

The “battle” against the so-called Virtual Orchestra Machine began in 2003, when the strike on Broadway shut down the theatres and prevented the use of the Virtual Orchestra to replace striking musicians. Former President Bill Moriarity and current Recording Vice-President Bill Dennison led that fight. The only “bans” on the Virtual Orchestra Lennon has achieved are at venues with no plans or reasons to use the technology, such as the various free-lance symphony orchestras. At Radio City, the venue most likely to use virtual orchestra technology, Lennon failed to achieve even a partial ban.

“… the groundbreaking media deal I recently negotiated in partnership with the musicians’ committee of the Metropolitan Opera… .” – David Lennon

Attorneys Mel Schwartzwald and Robert Barandes led the recent contract talks and electronic media negotiations with the Metropolitan Opera. Both were retained by the Opera Orchestra Committee and Local 802. The Committee also relied on the knowledge and expertise of Recording Department Supervisor Jay Schaffner. It is indicative of Lennon’s character that he takes sole credit for this achievement, but no responsibility for the failure at Radio City.

“I am especially proud of political alliances … that helped prevent the publishing of the notorious 'extortion letter' … during the hard-fought Radio City negotiations.” – David Lennon

It is hard to imagine being proud of anything connected with the 2005 Radio City negotiations, which were led by Lennon. His mistakes put our union and himself in the untenable position of either admitting that he had falsely characterized management’s offer at a press rally and signing a personal letter of apology or submitting to a contract that cut musicians salaries by 20 %, eliminated job security, eliminated guaranteed health benefits and cut one-third of the orchestra. He ignored the advice of our political and labor allies and chose the latter.

“I was elected to the International Executive Board … . A successor president would not automatically be elected and this loss of involvement would be to our collective detriment.” – David Lennon

In June Lennon was forced to take a “leave of absence” from his International Executive Board position because he had cashed AFM expense reimbursement checks meant for Local 802 and kept the money until it was discovered more than 6 months later. He has not been invited to return to that post and it is extremely unlikely he could ever be elected again.

“In closing, I ask you to consider my level of commitment to the membership and my record …” – David Lennon

Lennon’s “commitment” to the membership includes treating the member’s dues money as his own. His “record” includes loss of the union’s entire organizing department; loss of our public relations director; and the disaster of his first and only negotiation with a major commercial employer, Radio City, the most poorly handled negotiation in our union’s history. He has alienated the other unions with whom we must work and has lost the trust of members, other unions and the employers we face across the bargaining table.

The Concerned Musicians urge you to examine the facts, examine the record and vote smart – vote Concerned Musicians of Local 802.